Every day I make it a point to give myself a moment of stillness. That moment of stillness isn't a short moment either. It's as long as it needs to be. Usually it occurs shortly after I've had breakfast and before I've started my work day. I do it then because I'm still just waking up and its an optimum time to still myself before getting into whatever the day will involve. This moment of stillness is my meditation time. I do a series of meditation exercises, all of which lead me deeper and deeper into a state of stillness, which unfolds within it non-conceptual awareness.

Non-conceptual awareness is the experience of being without doing, judging, categorizing or filtering anything. You just are. The value of that experience is that it allows me to just be without stressing about anything I need to do. Sometimes in the process of doing that work, some emotions will come up or some thoughts will happen and I don't go out of my way to dismiss them. I just let them be as well, because I find in doing that it really brings my awareness to where I need to be, present with whatever is coming up that needs to be worked through, accepted, or otherwise processed.

This work isn't always easy. Lately I've been depressed as I've been my meditation work, because I'm coming up against some hard issues in my life. Being still isn't always easy. Yet I feel that in doing this work, I am actually allowing myself to fully feel and process whatever comes up in a manner that enables me to ultimately be empowered by it, even if at the time I do it I feel very vulnerable.

My moment of stillness is a time where I am just with me. Even if someone else is around, I'm not really aware of that person. I'm just with me, and whatever comes up. I take that moment of stillness as my time out away from everything else and I hold it sacred as a form of grounding and sacred communion that allows me to connect with not just myself, but whatever spiritual forces I choose to bring into that moment.

I think that if you practice magic or a spirituality of any type, its essential to have a moment of stillness for yourself. It may not take the form mine does but having that moment of stillness allows you to connect with what's important to you, both internally and externally. How does your moment of stillness show up in your daily life?

I've started a new podcast, associated with Pagan Musings podcast. It happens every Monday at 6pm PST. 

The first show was a discussion of word magic with Bill Duvendack

The second show was a discussion of the spiritual significance of Astrology with Bill Duvendack and Erik Roth

The next show is with Emily Carlin and is about shadow magic and pop culture magic.